Car-fender.



No. 807,490. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. F. W. OGONNOR.

UAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAYB. 1905.

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PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905.

F. W. O'CONNOR.

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P. W. OGONNOR.

GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1905.

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CAR-FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 8, 1905. Serial No. 259,268.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK WILLIAM OOONNOR, of the city of Toronto,in the county of York and Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Fenders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

The present invention relates to that class of fenders for cars electrically or otherwise propelled in which the operative elements maintain the fender at a constant height above the roadway and automatically compensate for the varying height of the car-body due to an increase or decrease of the load upon the bolster-springs and for the undulation of the ends of thecar due to the unevenness of the rails and in part relates to further improvements in the manner of operating car-fenders as set forth in my prior application filed June 27, 1904, Serial No. 214,293, and has for its object to provide an automatic fender comparatively simple in construction and positive in operation, with increased efficiency and durability, and one in which the clearance between the roadway and the fender can be reduced to a minimum, thereby permitting a higher speed without liability of-injury to the fender through forcible contact with the roadway.

Characteristic of the present invention is a positively-actuated safety device automatically forcing the fender to recede instantaneously upon coming into contact with any obstruction,withasimultaneousdownward movement, in which position it is locked and maintained in positive contactwith the roadway. The rapidity with which the fender recedes enables it to be brought in close contact with the roadway and force its way under the 0bstruction, thus lessening the liability to pass over it through jamming it between the fender and the roadway. The weight of the blow required to release the safety device and set the fender in motion has been demonstrated to be very light, while the receding action of the fender reduces to a minimum the blow due to the impact of the car.

To further increase the efficiency of the fender and provide a form of wheel-guard, a screen is attached to each side of the fender parallel to and extending a little outside the line of the rail, and immediately in front of and attached at intervals to the foremost end of the fender is a resilient guard-bar forming a false front which enables the fender to ride over slight irregularities when held in contact with the roadway.

I attain the foregoing by the construction and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings, in which similar figures of reference refer to like parts throughout.

Figure 1 is a general view in perspective of the front portion of a car with fender attached embodying the said improvements. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation, showing the mechanism connecting the fender with the truck. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the far side with the brackets in section and illustrating the more important parts of the operating mechanism. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view on the line A A,Fig. 3, showing the means provided for setting the safety device. Fig. 5 is a plan view in detail of a portion of the lower bracket with the cover removed. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modification of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, a bell-crank lever being substituted for the cam. Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the front corners of the fender, showing the construction of the resilient guard-bar with an additional swiveled guard-bar; and Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the flexible screen, showing one of the reverted hooks or points for catching in the clothing of a person picked up by the fender.

In general the appearance of the fender is l of a conventional type, the design being that found most serviceable to attain the end in view, and in this instance it is shown attached to a single-truck car.

Adjacent to the sides of the body of the car 1 and projecting slightly forward of the dash are a pair of supporting-brackets 2 and 3. The lower supports 2 are bolted or otherwise secured to the under side of the platform, and the upper supports 3 are in like manner secured to the dash or front of the car.

The fender is provided with a substantial frame comprising side bars 4:, connected by longitudinal cross-braces 5, said braces extending slightly beyond the line of the side bars for the purpose of increasing the width of the fender to prevent accidental contact with the operating parts. To the braces 5 is attached a flexible screen forming the protective portion of the fender. The screen is constructed, preferably, of light iron bands 6,

secured at their extremities to the aforesaid braces 5 and provided with a number of like iron bands 7; attached to and crosswise of the former. Interspacing the bands 6 and on one or more of the cross-bands 7 there are a series of reverted hooks or points 8 for the purpose of catching in the clothing of persons picked up by the fender and preventing their being readily bounced off.

The supporting-brackets 3 consist of hollow castings, preferably rectangular in cross-section, and are provided with a pair of V-grooved rolls 9 and 10, pivoted in 'a spring-cap 11 and a tampion 12, respectively. Retaining the spring-cap in contact with the side bar 4 and preventing any undue slack therein there is a spiral spring 13 contained in the recess within the bracket. 7

The supporting-brackets 2 are somewhat similar in form, but are of greater length and are adapted to be secured to the under side of the platform by means of lateral lugs 14, and have removable covers 15, with elongated slots 16, corresponding with like slots 16 in the under sides of the brackets. Contained within the bracket 2 is a spring-cap 17 and block 18, each provided with a grooved roll 19 and 20 and adapted to slide longitudinally therein. Between the spring-cap 17 and the spring-seat 21 there is a spiral spring 22, preventing any undue slack in the aforesaid mechanism and also forming a cushion for the fender when receding. To limit the forward movement of the spring-cap l7 and block 18 and retain the rolls 19 and 20, respectively, in contact with the side bar 4, there is a projecting lug 23, an integral part of the tampion 24. Abutting against the spring-seat 21 is an adjustable screw 25, by means of which the tension of the spring 22 may be regulated. Connecting the spring-cap 17 with the block 18, so that thereceding motion of the former is communicated to the latter, there are spring-latches 26,

5. To remove the block 18, the spring-latches 26 are spread apart, thus permitting it to be readily withdrawn after removing the tampion 24. To retain the spring-block 17 in its normal position after the removal of the tampion 24, there is a spring stop-latch 27.

The safety device referred to in the preamble of the specification comprises, essentially, a block having an inclined face 29 (hereinafter called the wedge 29) and an actuatingspring 30, preferably a leaf-spring attached to the rearward end of the bracket 2 and of sufiicient power to force the wedge when released to displace the block 18 sufliciently to allow the parallel portion of the wedge 29 to engage the forward end of said block, in which position the fender is locked down upon the roadway through the .pendulous movement of the fender due to the receding of the aforesaid block and spring-cap.

To reduce the friction brought about by the heavy pressure of the spring 30, there are antifriction-rolls 31 and 32 pivoted in the block 18 and in the wedge 29, respectively.

To set in motion the operation of the safety device whereby the fender is forced to recede simultaneously with the downward movement, it is essential that a portion of the receding movement be set up by the impact of the fender with the obstruction. The force of the blow required to accomplish this is very slight, being only sufficient to compress the spring 22 and move the block 18 far enough to admit the apex of the wedge 29 and bring into action the inclined face 29*, which under the pressure of the leaf-spring 3O completes the receding movement and brings the parallel portion of the face of the wedge 29 into engagement with the forward end of the block 18, forming the aforesaid lock. To reset the safety device and force the spring 30 and its wedge 29 back into their normal position, there is a lever 33, pivoted to the bracket 2 and adapted to be operated by hand, the relative positions being shown in Fig. 4. When thus reset, the fender is forced into its normal position by the action of the spiral spring 22, the block 18 again assuming its original position, supporting the wedge 29 in the manner already referred to.

The varying height of the car-body above the roadway is compensated for by the vertically-reciprocating motion of the side bars in their respective brackets. The operative elements that maintain the fender at a constant height above the roadway comprise cams 34, pivoted on the brackets 2, each preferably independently operated by the car-truck 35 through the medium of a bell-crank 36 and a connecting-rod 37.

The fixed height of the fender above the roadway is provided with adjustment by varying the length of the said connecting-rod 37, for which purpose there is a turnbuckle 38.

The action of the cam 34 is positive in either direction. the operating-surfaces being contained within the curved recess 34*, in which travels a roll pivoted on a stud 34 The configuration of the working surfaces of the cam conforms to a curve that will maintain the fender at a uniform height above the roadway when operated from the car-truck, due consideration being had for the relative proportions of the bell-crank 36. The outward extremity of the said recess 34 is open to admit of the free ingress and egress of the aforesaid roll when removing or replacing the fender.

Reference being had to Fig. 6, in which a bell-crank 39, provided with a connectinglink 40, is substituted for the cam 34, it is obvious that a similar motion is attained by this means, and although less efiicient it is in some instances a suitable substitute. The oflice of the bell-crank in this case is similar to that of the bell-crank 36 and is supplementary to it, in effect reversing the direction of the motion of the car-body as transmitted to the fender.

To facilitate the removing and replacing of the fender proper, the elongated slots 16 and 16 of the bracket 2 and the slots 3 of the bracket 3 extend to the outer extremities of the aforesaid brackets, and the tampions 12 and 24 of the brackets 3 and 2, respectively, are adapted to be readily withdrawn, thus releasing the side bars of the fender, which may then be readily withdrawn.

Further details in the construction of and the form of the several parts of the fender can be readily understood by referring to the drawings.

In addition to the advantages already set forth the adaptation of the present invention neutralizes (particularly in a single-truck car) the undulation of the ends of the car (more commonly termed oscillation) due to the unevenness of the rails. This in itself is a great saving to the rolling-stock and road-bed, while increasing the comfort of the passengers.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic fender, a vertically-adjustable frame provided with a flexible screen, a series of brackets adapted to support said frame. a spring-actuated retractive device adapted to force said fender to recede with a simultaneous downward motion, a device pivoted on lower brackets of said series and adapted to engage said frame, and said device adapted to change the direction of motion communicated thereto through the medium of a connecting-rod from the car-truck, whereby the undulation of the car-body is compensated for and the fender maintained at a uniform height above the roadway, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. In an automatic fender, a vertically-adjustable frame provided with a flexible screen, a series of brackets adapted to support and guide said frame, a spring-actuated retractive device adapted to force said fender to recede with a simultaneous downward motion, an

and susceptible of swinging longitudinally, upper and lower brackets adapted to receive the frame, a spring-actuated retractive device 4. In an automatic fender, a vertically-adjustable frame provided with a flexible screen and susceptible of swinging longitudinally,

upper and lower brackets provided with rolls and elongated openings adapted to receive the said frame, said lower brackets provided with a spring-actuated retractive device adapted to engage said frame and force said fender to recede with a simultaneous downward motion, said retractive device adapted to maintain said fender in contact with the roadway, an actuating-cam pivoted on said lower brackets and engaging said frame, a bell-crank lever pivoted on the car-body and adapted to engage the frame of the car-truck, and a pivoted rod ad justably connecting said bell-crank and said actuating device, whereby the undulation of the car-body is compensated for and the fender maintained at a uniform height above the roadway, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

5. In an automatic fender, a vertically-adjustable frame provided with a flexible screen, a series of brackets adapted to support said frame whereby said frame swings pendulously, a spring-actuated retractive device provided with an inclined face and adapted to engage the mechanism contained in the lower brackets of said series, an actuatingcam pivoted on the said lower brackets and adapted to engage said frame, a bell-crank lever pivoted on the car-body and adapted to engage the car-truck, and a pivoted rod adjustably connecting said bell-crank and said actuating-cam, whereby the undulation of the car-body is compensated for and the fender maintained at a uniform height above the roadway, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at the city of Toronto, this 2d day of May, 1905.

FREDERICK WILLIAM OCONNOR.

In presence of CHARLES L. LAWRIE, H. DIXON.

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